Vehicular transmission system



p ,1937. A. wm'THEi; 2,077,194

VEHICULAR TRANSMISSION SYSTEM Filed 0ct.-.6, 1934 s-shets-sneet 1 April 13, 1937. A. WINTHER VEHICULAR TRANSIISSION SYSTBI Filed Oct. 6. 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I APril13, 1937. VA. WINTHERZ 2,077,194

- VBHIOULAR TRANSMISSION .SYS'IEII f Filed Oct. 6, 1934 s'sneets-sneet's FIG 3 FICA."

- Patented Apr. 13, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

2,077,194 vnmonmn TRANSMISSION SYSTEM Anthony Winther, Kenosha, Wis., assignor to Martin P. Winther, Waukegan, 111., as trustee Application October 6, 1934, Serial No. 747,159

Claim.

be noted the provision, in a vehicular drive and transmission system a prime mover, a clutch, a 1 propulsion gear transmission, a propulsion drive shaft to the road wheelswa refrigerator compressor, and driving means for said vcompressor comprising a power take-off from the propulsion transmission and/or the prime mover, and means for reducing the inertial and/or resistance effect of the compressor driving. means when the prime mover is disconnected, as by throwing open the clutch, so that no drag is thereby imposed on the gear transmission and/or prime mover, and

which would otherwise make gear shifting dimcult. Other objects will be inpart obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the ele- -ments and combinations of elements, features of construction, and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the structures hereinafter described, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which are 3 illustrated several of various possible embodi ments of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of one form of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a more detailed layout of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a second form of the invention; and,

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing a third form of the invention.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Refrigerator compressors and like driven objects have heretofore been provided in vehicles, 0 and have been driven by a power take-01f from the gear transmission of the vehicle through a speed control, or from the prime mover direct. This power take-off has been disadvantageous, being at all times directly or indirectly coupled 55 to the gears of the-transmission, or to'the prime mover, the compressor and driving means theredliferently than they would if the compressor and for having a considerable inertia and/or resistance.

In the course of normal operation of the vehicle, when the main clutch is disengaged in order to shift gears, the power take-off acting under the inertia of the compressor and driving means therefor, (1) under some design conditions, continues to rotate certain gears of the transmission, rendering the shifting of gears diflicult; and (2) under other conditions of de- 10 sign, the gears of the transmission may upon shifting be unduly reduced in speed. For an example of the first condition, if the operator is driving alon the road in second gear (which means that theengine is running ata high enough speed to be delivering full regulating speed to the compressor through a speed control) andhe attempts to shift to high gear,

the action of the. speed control driven shaft and of the refrigerating compressor tends to prolong the rotation of the power take-off shaft, and hence to prolong rotation of the gears in the gear case, even if the operator disengages the clutch. The result is that the speed change gears in the gear case are rotating relatively its drive were not present. This difference causes difficulty in shifting the change speed gears for meeting ordinary road requirements, resulting in clashing and the like under what would otherwise be a normal shifting action. I

If the compressor be driven directly from the prime mover, the same effect is exerted upon the prime mover, so that after the gears are shifted in the transmission and the main clutch reclosed, an undesirably high relative movement exists between the driving and driven members of the clutch which interferes with the smoothness of operation. Or, the engine may conceivably be stalled upon shifting, under certain con- 40 ditions. A The present invention eliminates the above difliculties by cutting off the field excitation of the driving means and speed control for the compressor when the operation disengages themain clutch, thereby removing the entire load from the power take-01f shaft or from the prime mover, as the case may be, whenever the clutch pedal is depressed.

Referring'now more particularly to Figs. 1 and. 2, numeral I indicates the engineer prime mover, 2 the clutch, 3 the gear case, 5 the power takeoff to the refrigerator unit, .1 the usual gear shift handle, 9 the usual clutch pedal, and II an electric switch. The switch II is arranged so that it is open when the clutch pedal 9 is depressed (to disengage the clutch 2) and closed when'the clutch pedal 9 is in normal clutch closing position. As the drawings show, the switch opens immediately upon the first movement of the pedal 9, that is, during its movement of play just prior to actual clutch opening. As is known,

the usual clutch pedal has substantial play movement prior to actual clutch opening movement.

Numeral l3 indicates a jack shaft, suitably carried in bearings I5 and provided with universal joints H. The power take-off 5 drives one end of the shaft l3, while to the other end of the jack shaft is aflixed a grooved pulley l9 which,

through belts 2|, drives a similar pulley 29 onan inductor drum 4|. As shown, the inductor drive 4| cooperates electromagnetically with a field member 43 having coils 45 on its poles, said coils 45 being energized by means of a circuit 41 which includes said switch Suitable slip rings 49 serve to provide the electrical path between the moving coils 45 and the circuit 41.

From the above it will be understood that the inductor drum 4| is a driving member and inductively drives the driven field member 49. At-

' tached to said field member 43 is a driven shaft 5| upon which is mounted a centrifugal governor 59, the latter controlling, according to speed, a rocker mechanism 55 which acts successively upon shunt contacts 51.

The contacts 51 shunt a series of resistances 59 in said circuit 41. Upon an increase in speed of the shaft 5|, the shunt contacts 51 are gradually .removed from the circuit, thus inserting the resistances 59 so as to weaken the field strength vof the coils 45 and hence increasing the .slip' between the driving member 4| and the driven member 49.

On the other hand if the speed decreases, the shunt contacts 5| are inserted into the circuit 41, thus gradually shunting out the resistances 59 and increasing the field strength of the driven member 43 so as to reduce the slip between members 4| and 43. .Thus, regulation of the speed of shaft 5| is obtained under varying velocities of the shaft l9.

The driven shaft 5|, by means of a belt drive 9| drives a compressor 99 which comprises part A of the refrigerating system on the vehicle.

The road wheels of the vehicle are indicated at numeral 95, the same being driven through a suitable. final drive 91 from said gear transvehicle depresses the clutch pedal' 9 to open clutch 2, flow of current to the field of the speed control 39 is cut 05 prior to clutch opening, thuscutting off the fie trol and therefore removing substantially the entire load from the power take-off shaft I9 before the clutch is actually opened. Shifting of the gears in thetransmission 9 may thereafter be effected without diificulty.

excitation of the speed con- It will be seen that without the provision of switch articulated with the clutch mechanism 2, 9, that the inertia of the refrigerating unit, designated generally at R, will function deleteriously. The reasons for this are thatthe clutch 2 has a driving. shaft" connected to the crank shaft of the prime mover and a driven shaft I5. The latter carries a gear 11 which meshes with a gear 19 on a jack shaft 19, the latter rotating according to the rotation of thegear II. The drive shaft 9| of the vehicle is driven from said jack shaft 19 by gear 99' and a splined gear 93. The jack shaft 19 comprises a nest with gears 19, 99 and 91.-

When it is desired to'shift gears, the clutch pedal is pressed, thus disengaging shaft 15 from shaft fl. Then a gear such as 93 is shifted to the dotted-line position shown, and another splined gear such as 9| is shifted into mesh with a gear such as 91. While this shift is being made, the nest of gears 18, 91 and 89 is free, and,

if connected with the power take-ofi 5 is under control of said power take-off. The same is true when a direct-drive connection is made with gear 11 in. the known manner.

If the inertia of the refrigerator unit R is high, the rotation of the gears 11, I8, 91 and 99 will be unduly prolonged, so that proper meshing for subsequent speed cannot be made. On the other band, should the inertia be unduly low, the gears 19, 91 and 99 will be unduly loaded and decelerated, thereby also to make shifting diflicult. It would very rarely occur that the design of the unit R would exactly coincide with the requirements for proper gear shifting. By means of the present invention most of the ideleterious effects of the action of the unit R is eliminated from the.

gear case and shifting may beaccomplished in the usual manner. It is to be also remembered in this connection that the gear boxes themselves are designed so that the shifting is easy and their constants of operation should not be substantially changed. 7

It will be understood that the clutch may be of the automatically operating type (such as a vacuum clutch) in which event the switch II 'is not directly connected to the pedal 9, which does not move when the clutch is automatically disengaged, but to the element which actually effects the movement of the clutch, so thatthe same ultimate effect is obtained. But, just as clutch pedal 9 is arranged so that a slight initial movement of the same before clutch opening opens switch so will the automatic clutch open the switch during play movement. This is because all clutch operating means and pedals have a reserve, lostmotion necessary to prevent oversensitive adjustment of the clutch which would otherwise make operation of the vehicle dangerous. It is also to be understood that the showing of the .various elements whose structures known per .se; are shown diagrammatically and that it is theriew combination of these that is herein considered to be new.

Referring now to Fig. 3, it will be seen howthe unit R-may be driven from the crank shaft of the prime mover by means of a beltdrlve 99, the circuit 41 to said unit R being under control of said switch H.

In Fig. 4 is shown a connection wherein the power take-off 5 is from a timing gear or the like] 95 in the engine, the same delivering energy to the jack shaft l3 and thence to the unit R by way of the drive 2|.

In view ofthe above, it will be seen that the several objects or the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As many changes could be made in carrying out the above.constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting 2. In a vehicle, a prime mover, at least one driving road wheel, a mechanical connection between said prime mover and said wheel, an openable clutch in said connection, a power take-oil connectedto the prime mover otherwise than through said clutch and delivering energy from said prime mover, a driven means receiving said energy by way of said power-take-ofl, and means automatically responsive to opening of said clutch for removing the load from said drivenmeans only when the clutch is moved to be disengaged.

3. In combination with a vehicle including a prime mover, a clutch, a gear transmission, and a driven means empowered by a power take-oil. from the gear transmission, means for removing the load of said driven means from the gear transmission when said clutch is disengaged comprising an electric circuit including a portion of said driven means, and a switch in said circuit, said switch being actuated to open circuit position by the disengaging movement oi. said clutch.

4. In combination with a vehicle including a prime mover, a clutch, a gear transmission, a refrigerating compressor, an electrical speed control mechanism including a field, and a power take-oi! from said gear transmission driving said compressor through said speed control means, means operable upon disengagement of said clutch to disempower the speed control mechanism and hence to remove the load of said compressor from said gear transmission.

5. In combination with a vehicle including a prime mover, a clutch, a gear transmission, a. reirigerating compressor, an electrical speed control mechanism including an electromagnetic field, and a power take-oil from said gear trans.- mission driving said compressor through said speed control means, means operable upon disengagement of said clutch to disempower the speed control mechanism and hence to remove the load of said compressor from said gear transmission comprising an electric circuit including the field of said speed control mechanism, and a switch in said circuit, said switch being mechanically actuated to open circuit position by the disengaging movement of said clutch, whereby the flow or current to the field of said speed control mechanism is interrupted.

6. In combination with a vehicle including a prime mover, a clutch, a gear transmission, a refrigerating compressor, an electrical speed control mechanism including an electromagnetic field, and a power take-oil connected with said prime. mover and driving said compressor through said speed control means, means operable upon disengagement oi said clutch to disempower the speed control mechanism and hence to remove the load of said compressor from said gear transmission comprising an electric circuit including thefi'eld' of said speed control mechanism, and a switch in said circuit, said switch being mechanically actuated to open circuit position by the disengaging movement of said clutch, whereby nism is interrupted.

7. In a vehicle having a prime mover, a road wheel, and a driving connection between the prime mover and the road wheel having a clutch therein, comprising an energy consuming-unit on the vehicle, 'a drive for said unit comprising a power take-oil connected with said prime mover, a driving member connected with said power take-oil, a driven member connected withsaid unit, and an electrical circuit efiecting an electromagnetic connection between said driving and driven members, and a switch in said circuit adapted to be closed upon'closing of the clutch and to be opened. upon opening of the clutch, whereby said electromagnetic connection is accordingly effected or broken.

-8. In a vehicle having a prime mover, a road wheel, a driving connection between the prime mover and the road wheel having a clutch therein,

the flow of current to said speed control mecha- 7 comprising an energy consuming unit on the vehicle, a drive for said unit comprising a power take-off connected with said prime mover, a.

driving member connected with said power takeofi, a driven member connected with said unit, and an electrical circuit eflecting an electromagnetic connection between said driving and driven members, and a switch in saidcircuit adapted tobe closed upon closing of the clutch and to be opened upon opening of the clutch, whereby said electromagnetic connection is accordingly eflected or broken, said connection between the power take-off and the prime mover being through said transmission.

9. Ina vehicle having a prime mover, a road a wheel, and a driving connection between the prime mover and the road wheel having a clutch'therein, comprising an energy consuming unit on the V81 hicle, a drive for said unit comprising a power take-oil connected with said-prime mover, a'drlving member connected with said power take-oil, a driven member connected with said unit, and an electrical circuit eilecting an electromagnetic connection between said driving and driven mem-. bers, and a switch in said circuit adapted to be closed upon closing of the clutch and vice versa,

vwhereby said electromagnetic connection is accordingly effected or broken, said connection hetween the power take-oil and the prime mover being made directly to said prime mover.

10. In a vehicle having a prime mover, a road wheei! a driving connection between the prime mover and the road wheel having a clutch therein, comprising an energy consuming unit on the vehicle, a drive for said unit comprising a power take-on connectedvwith said prime mover, a drivs ing member connected with said power take-off, a driven member connected with said unit, and an electrical circuit effecting an electromagnetic connection between said driving and driven members, and a switch in said circuit'adapted to beclosed upon closing of the clutch and vice versa, whereby said electromagnetic connection is accordingly eil'ected or broken, said connection between the power take-oil and the prime mover being directly a drivenmember connected withsaid unit, and

an electrical circuit eflecting an electromagnetic lo connection between said driving anddriven members, and a switch in said circuit adapted'to be closed upon closing of the clutch and vice versa. whereby said electromagnetic connection is accordingly eiiected or broken, said connection beit tween the power take-oil andlthe prime mover being directly connected to said prime mover by way 01 a belted connection.

12. In a vehicle, aprime mover, at least one driving road wheel, a mechanical connection be- 20 tween said prime mover and said wheel, a clutch in said connection, means to operate said clutch.

a power take-oi! delivering energy from said prime mover. a loaded driven means receiving said en-.

- ergy by way of said power take-cit, and means for 25 removing said load by the initial movement of said clutch operating-means prior to the disengagement or said clutch. v

13. In a vehicle, a prime mover, at least one driving road wheel, a mechanical connection be- 30 tween said prime mover and said wheel, a clutch in said connection, means to operate said clutch,

a power take-on delivering energy from said prime mover, a loaded driven means receiving said energy by way of said power take-oil, and

means for removing said load by the initial movement or said clutch operating means independentorthedisenmement ottheclutch.

14. In a vehicle, aiprime mover, at least one driving road wheel, a mechanical connection betweens'aidprimemoverandsaidwheeLaclutch in said connection, means tor operating said clutch a power take-oi! delivering energy 4mm said prime mover, loaded means driven bysaid power take-oil, an electromagnetic driving connection between said loaded driven means and the power take-oil, an electric circuit for maintaining said electromagnetic connection, and means for disconnecting said loaded driven means from the prime mover by breaking said electromagnetic connection through interruption of said circuit in responseto movement oi the clutch operating,

means.

15. In a vehicle, a prime mover, at least. one driving road wheel, a mechanical connection between said prime mover and said wheel, a clutch in said connection, means for operating said clutch, a power take-oil delivering energyirom said prime mover, loaded means driven by said power take-oil, an electromagnetic driving-connection between said loaded driven means and the power take-oil, an electric circuit for maintaining said electromagnetic connection, and

means for disconnecting said loaded driven means umour wm'rmm'. 

